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“This tea brewed up darker than I thought it would – a golden yellow. It was slightly fruity with an underlying caramel note. There was a woody and slightly grassy taste to it. A bit different...”
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“Finally, new tea! This one is the first of the set of four “single-size” samples I ordered from Steepster. As the description said there would be one each of white, green, oolong, and black teas, I...”
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“Backlog:
I was very excited to receive this in one of my past Steepster Select boxes. I love white pearls! These pearls were a little smaller than I remember the white tea pearls that I’ve had...”
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“I’m not a big fan of white tea, and this one was just not complex enough for me. I only tried two steepings, so I will try a few more with the second pouch. There were a few sweet notes, but not...”
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9 Tasting Notes

This tea brewed up darker than I thought it would – a golden yellow. It was slightly fruity with an underlying caramel note. There was a woody and slightly grassy taste to it. A bit different from some other white teas I’ve had but I really enjoyed it.

Finally, new tea! This one is the first of the set of four “single-size” samples I ordered from Steepster. As the description said there would be one each of white, green, oolong, and black teas, I was expecting the white tea to be a bai mu dan, but this turned out to be a welcome surprise.

The dry tea comes in tightly coiled little pearls, and the aroma—I’m not sure how to describe it, but it smells like nostalgia to me. Yes, a little floral, and a little grassy, but mostly it reminds me of the various nameless teas I would have while visiting relatives in China. There’s a slightly dusty, well-worn, people-friendly quality to it, and it seems to instantly summon one of those rainy summer afternoons in a room full of books.

I haven’t had much experience with white teas, so I approached this one with caution, even bringing out the thermometer that I usually neglect to use. The tea brews to a darker color than I imagined, and the leaves unfurl fully. The flavor is very different from what is suggested by the aroma. It’s light and delectably smooth, with a fruit-like sweetness that I spent a long time trying to identify, and finally realized was very similar to dried apricot. No astringency or “greenness” or course.

I only used half the package to make enough for a small cup (a mini-kettle-full of water), and I’m happy to be able to get a second serving out of this. In all, it’s probably the first white tea that I’ve really enjoyed. It also helps explain why I’ve dislike almost all flavored white tea I’ve tried—when the tea itself is this delicate, adding anything else is usually detrimental.

Flavors: Apricot, Flowers

Preparation

I was very excited to receive this in one of my past Steepster Select boxes. I love white pearls! These pearls were a little smaller than I remember the white tea pearls that I’ve had in the past being. These are closer to the size of a jasmine pearl, and I seem to remember the white tea pearls being a little larger than these.

The flavor is sweet like honey! A thinned honey. Light and crisp, subtle notes of melon, air, earth, and a hint of flower in the background. A really good tea for those who tend to shy away from white teas because they find that they are too subtle. This white tea has a well-pronounced flavor!

I’m not a big fan of white tea, and this one was just not complex enough for me. I only tried two steepings, so I will try a few more with the second pouch. There were a few sweet notes, but not enough to keep me interested.

A delicate golden cup with faint but well-balanced flavors. There are some fresh green notes at the front, with a honey sweetness lingering just long enough to be distinguished. Some peach notes flesh out the body a bit, but even making sure I didn’t over-water, the flavors were still muted. Further steepings brought forth more malty sweetness for a more hearty brew. 6/10, would drink again but didn’t love it.

The pearls are elegant and have notes of caramel lingering in them from the start. There is a sweet and slightly floral grassy aroma and a hint of fruit and nectar.

My first steeping was only for 45 seconds in a gaiwan. I always enjoy doing a brief first infusion for white teas and seeing the almost colorless, slightly golden liquid that comes out into the cha hai. It almost looks like regular water but with a mysterious golden glow, and yields a full but delicate flavor. This is where you’ll catch most white teas’ sugary and honey notes without them being overshadowed by the earthier, grassier qualities. This infusion is smooth and subtle, a bit of sweet grass and floral notes. I’m reminded a bit of Ya Bao.

The second infusion was a beautiful pale gold. The leaves have opened up a lot more and offer heady tropical fruit and flower aromas. The liquor smells of cream. The taste is buttery and creamy, lightly floral, ending in cut wood notes.

The third brew is very buttery, the scent and flavor both have notes of caramel and cream. The woodiness and grassiness from before are mostly gone. The leaves have fully opened up now and the brew is a medium gold.

Whoa!!! By the fourth steeping this tea has become very salty and buttery but still sweet. Reminds me of kettle corn! I wasn’t expecting that salty quality to come out of these leaves so late in the process! This is really great! There’s a slight dryness at the end with just a hint of tannin, nothing too serious, also a very light floral lingering note.

On the fifth steeping the overall impression is lightly floral and sweet, but the flavor seems to be waning quite a bit, so I’ll stop here.

Overall, this tea brings a lot of changes from one steeping to the next for a white tea. Perhaps because the leaves are rolled this allows different aspects of the flavor to emerge as the leaves slowly unfurl from one steeping to the next. I really enjoyed this white tea and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a lightly sweet, yet grassy and woody tea with just a hint of floral. Overall the flavor is quite smooth and creamy, gloriously buttery, and easy on the palate. Give it a try!

Dry leaf is gray-green colored rolled balls with a spice scent like nutmeg and sweeter spices.
Brewed in my glass teapot so I could watch the balls open up to a moss green colored leaf. The balls are not opening up too fast, about half-way and the liquor is staying light colored. The liquor doesn’t have too much scent or color which makes me want to leave it in a bit longer but I want to brew the Steepster recommended way for the first try.
The flavor is light and subtle. I love white tea and this one is very fresh, and has light essences of spring. Creamy florals like daffodils but no flavor of flower which is good.
The flavor is light light honey.

From the Steepster Select box, April 2014

I resteeeped this one with my remaining 6 ounces of 180F water and the leaves were now mid way opened up so I got more color to the liquor. I steeped for 5 minutes which was pushing it because I didn’t want to get the tea bitter. It stayed consistently one-note in honey but very subtle.
I do love white tea pearls with NO jasmine so I like this tea. I have another white tea pearl in my cupboard with more complex flavors but I love them all :)

Flavors: Honey

Preparation

This is my first time trying some real, quality tea, and needless to say I am in love. It was my first steepster shipment to arrive and I am so excited to try the rest! These white pearls have a very herbal, grassy, earthy taste, which is my favorite flavor spectrum in the tea world. Beautiful, smooth, light, airy tea. I would definitely recommend this for your cupboard!